College and Research Libraries come " a n . " A line a p p a r e n t l y left b l a n k for a r e f e r e n c e to be filled in is still b l a n k (p. 141.) W i t h p o o r i n d e x i n g and o v e r l a p p i n g of the parts, at least eight must be scanned to be sure o f picking u p all there is on a spe- cific t o p i c in i n f o r m a t i o n retrieval. B u t even so, this would be greatly time saving in liter- ature searching as c o m p a r e d with checking the literature indexes a n d abstracts a n d working from r e f e r e n c e to r e f e r e n c e in the l i t e r a t u r e itself, so the survey serves its in- tended purposes. T h e reviewer is h i m s e l f c o n t e m p l a t i n g a n o t h e r c o n t r i b u t i o n to the literature, a n d is shocked by the r e a d i n g which he has to catch u p with, but it came u n d e r his n o t i c e at the cost o f n o more than a few hours' s c a n n i n g . H e is grateful, as well as flattered, at finding himself o n e o f the writers b r o u g h t u n d e r his notice, and he at least is glad to have the volumes so f a r is- sued now and as they are, though more time a n d care could have given them b e t t e r or- ganization l a t e r o n . S o m e t h i n g substantial a n d useful has b e e n done, and substance a n d use in p u b l i c a t i o n o f t e n wait too long on p e r f e c t i o n in organization and typography. —John Metcalfe, University of New South Wales Library. Use of Books Patterns in the Use of Books in Large Re- search Libraries. B y H e r m a n H . Fussier a n d J u l i a n L . S i m o n . C h i c a g o : T h e U n i - versity of Chicago L i b r a r y , 1961. [Micro- film] 283p., A p p e n d i c e s A-M. $3.05. T h e study h e r e i n r e p o r t e d makes a fron- tal attack on a p r o b l e m o f increasing con- cern to those responsible for the manage- m e n t of research collections. I t proceeds on the thesis that t h e a c c u m u l a t i v e growth o f the general research library must produce stresses that m a n y i n s t i t u t i o n s will find diffi- cult to resolve, a n d t h a t at least some relief may be achieved through the separation o f m a t e r i a l deserving a high degree o f accessi- bility from that which, because o f l i m i t e d use, might be placed in less accessible and less expensive storage. M o r e specifically, the study seeks to de- velop statistical procedures which will pre- dict with r e a s o n a b l e accuracy the f r e q u e n c y with which groups o f books with defined characteristics are likely to be used in a research library. F o r the sake o f simplicity, the study assumed a working library housing the bulk of the research c o l l e c t i o n o p e r a t i n g in c o m b i n a t i o n with a local, e x p a n s i b l e storage facility a b s o r b i n g m u c h of the least- used m a t e r i a l . T h e authors consider the findings, however, as equally relevant to co- operative storage and a c q u i s i t i o n programs, a n d to programs for large-scale microfacsi- m i l e o p e r a t i o n s . T h e a p p r o a c h has b e e n es- sentially that of o p e r a t i o n s analysis o f use of groups of books at the University o f Chi- cago, b u t with some d a t a from o t h e r librar- ies, i n c l u d i n g Yale, Northwestern, a n d the University of C a l i f o r n i a at B e r k e l e y . T w o u n r e l a t e d s u b j e c t fields in which Chicago's collections are strong were selected for detailed analysis o f the use o f mono- graphs, n a m e l y economics a n d T e u t o n i c languages a n d l i t e r a t u r e . Serial volumes were given separate consideration, as was browsing a n d non-recorded use. Statistical measures were in turn checked against the j u d g m e n t of e x p e r t s i n the s u b j e c t fields analyzed and, finally, such practical matters as procedures for the transfer o f books to c o m p a c t storage, a n d the economics o f b o o k housing receive a t t e n t i o n . T h e authors themselves have given warn- ing that this volume, based largely on sta- tistical procedures, is n o t easy r e a d i n g . I n fact, it is clearly l a b e l e d as a p r e l i m i n a r y e d i t i o n d i s t r i b u t e d f o r review a n d criticism. Lest this w a r n i n g be taken lightly, o n e il- lustrative s e n t e n c e is presented here, ad- mittedly taken somewhat out o f c o n t e x t : " . . . F o r any c u t t i n g - p o i n t , titles fall i n t o two groups: those in the cell to be cut, and those in the non-cut cell. B i n o m i a l confi- dence limits establish the accuracy o f o u r prediction of the n u m b e r o f titles that will fall i n t o these cells in an infinite u n i v e r s e . " O n t h e plus side, however, is the fact that readers will find the b a c k g r o u n d , methodol- ogy, and essential findings o f the study in the i n t r o d u c t i o n a n d first chapter, p. 1-34, a n d the summary a n d conclusions, p. 263- 280, q u i c k a n d easy r e a d i n g f o r those inter- ested. 78 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S A m o n g the p r i n c i p a l findings and conclu- sions: 1. I t is possible to predict p r o b a b l e fu- ture use of groups o f books with defined characteristics in a typical research library situation, a l t h o u g h the qualifications are o f t e n c o m p l e x a n d critical a n d confidence limits different from o n e s u b j e c t to an- o t h e r . 2. C o m p a c t storage of books can save significant o p e r a t i n g a n d c a p i t a l sums, possibly r a n g i n g from 60 to 77 per cent o f t h e costs o f c o n v e n t i o n a l housing. 3. T h e wisdom of accepting the eco- n o m i c advantages o f compact storage must be weighed by q u a l i t a t i v e j u d g m e n t against the scholarly benefits o f more ac- cessible storage. 4. Past use of a title, if e x a m i n e d over a sufficiently l o n g period, is an e x c e l l e n t a n d by f a r the best p r e d i c t o r of future use. 5. I f 25 per cent o f the economics col- l e c t i o n of the University o f C h i c a g o were sent to storage, using a r u l e o f language a n d p u b l i c a t i o n date, the stored volumes would g e n e r a t e an estimated 3 per c e n t of total use; a n d each title would have a p r o b a b i l i t y of b e i n g used roughly o n c e in thirty-five years. 6. F o r h u m a n i s t i c disciplines, however, f u n c t i o n s which d o n o t employ past use are less successful. I n T e u t o n i c literature, f o r e x a m p l e , the 25 p e r c e n t o f the col- l e c t i o n selected by accession date and l a n g u a g e would g e n e r a t e 12 p e r cent o f the total use, and the average title would be used o n c e in every ten years. 7. E m p l o y i n g " p a s t u s e " over twenty years or more, some twenty-five per c e n t of the University o f Chicago's collections of m o n o g r a p h s in economics a n d T e u - t o n i c languages a n d l i t e r a t u r e could be stored with the e x p e c t a t i o n that only 1 per cent of the total use o f the collections would come from the stored books. Pre- dicted use of the average m o n o g r a p h thus selected: a b o u t o n c e in one h u n d r e d years. Some will say t h a t the findings serve prin- cipally to confirm what is already known, namely, that books are s u b j e c t to obsoles- cence as measured by intensity o f use, a n d that large q u a n t i t i e s o f m a t e r i a l in research libraries e n j o y relatively little use. Neverthe- less, research libraries are u n d e r pressure because of costs, not only for storage but for acquisition and cataloging as well. T h e care- fully marshalled evidence in this study and the restraint of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a n d conclu- sion offer much, n o t only in support of lower cost of housing by c o m p a c t storage o f little-used material, b u t also in support of going f u r t h e r toward cooperative storage a n d the r e d u c t i o n o f the n u m b e r o f copies of little-used books held by research libraries as a g r o u p . — R i c h a r d H. Logsdon, Colum- bia University Libraries. Library Arts Training Laymen in the Use of the Library. B y George S. B o n n . Bibliographies, Ab- stracts, and Indexes. By M a r g a r e t S. Bry- a n t . ( T h e State of the L i b r a r y Art, Vol. 2, Parts 1-2) N e w Brunswick, N . J . : R u t - gers, T h e S t a t e University Press, 1960. 114, 108p. $ 5 . 0 0 . I n the preface to this volume of an atrrac- tive a n d useful series, R a l p h R . Shaw out- lines t h e procedures followed by each o f its compilers. H e tells us t h a t each one "at- tempts to summarize what the l i t e r a t u r e says with a m i n i m u m o f r e d u n d a n c y b u t w i t h o u t editorial c o m m e n t . " M r . B o n n , in stating his objectives, proposes n o t only to sum- marize the literature, b u t to i n d i c a t e trends, problems, and needed research as well. I n the i n t r o d u c t i o n he has p e r m i t t e d himself the l u x u r y o f some c o m m e n t s which might well have been reserved for the c o n c l u d i n g section, as, for e x a m p l e , "so f a r n o one has shown or proved that t r a i n i n g in the use of libraries really makes any a p p r e c i a b l e differ- e n c e to anybody a n y h o w . " A p p r o a c h e d from this skeptical p o i n t of view, the task o f sum- marizing the l i t e r a t u r e on this t o p i c must have proved tedious indeed. T h e b i b l i o g r a p h y is doubtless the most useful feature of the work. I t brings to- g e t h e r an impressive array of over f o u r hun- dred references to the s u b j e c t , drawn from the professional l i t e r a t u r e o f E u r o p e a n d the U n i t e d States. M r . B o n n c o m m e n t s on these items in six sections d e a l i n g with vari- ous e d u c a t i o n a l levels, while in the seventh J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 2 79